title: No effect of serotoninergic gene variants on response to interpersonal counseling and antidepressants in major depression.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Gene variants within the serotonin pathway have been associated with major depressive disorder (MDD) treatment outcomes, however a possible different modulation on pharmacological or psychological treatments has never been investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred sixty MDD patients were partially randomized to either inter-personal counseling (IPC) or antidepressants. The primary outcome was remission at week 8. Five serotonergic polymorphisms were investigated (COMT rs4680, HTR1A rs6295, HTR2A rs2224721, HTR2A rs7997012 and SLC6A4 rs421417).
  
  
  RESULTS
  IPC (n=43) and antidepressant (n=117) treated patients did not show any difference in remission rates at week 8 (corrected for baseline severity, age and center). None of the studied gene variants impacted on response and remission rates at week 8 neither in the IPC nor in the antidepressant group. An analysis of the whole sample showed a trend of association between rs7997012 AA genotype and a better treatment outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study confirms that IPC is an effective psychological intervention comparable to antidepressants in mild-moderate MDD. Polymorphisms related to the serotonin system did not exert a major effect on clinical outcomes in none of the treatment groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serretti
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fabbri
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pellegrini
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Porcelli
authors.forename: Pierluigi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Politi
authors.forename: Silvio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bellino
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Menchetti
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mariotti
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Demi
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Martinelli
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cappucciati
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bozzatello
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brignolo
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brambilla
authors.forename: Chi-Un
authors.initials: CU
authors.lastname: Pae
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Balestrieri
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Ronchi
keywords: 5-HT; 5-HT1A receptor; 5-HT2A receptor; Antidepressants; COMT; Genes; Major depression; Polymorphism; Psychotherapy; Serotonin transporter